Arahattasutta — Devatāvagga — the seventh chapter of the Sixes, continuing the Second Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Two matched six-item lists, cause and its direct reversal, immediately following AN 6.65's identical shape
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
This decline/non-decline list format recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and formulaic, easy to mistake for a repeat of AN 6.65 without checking its actual list
Why this discourse
AN 6.66 repeats AN 6.65's exact shape — two six-item lists, blocking and enabling — one step further along the path, naming what blocks perfection (arahantta) rather than non-return. A reader who assumes the list itself is also repeated would be wrong: only one item, lack of faith, is shared between the two; the other five are entirely different.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Without giving up dullness, drowsiness, restlessness, remorse, lack of faith, and negligence, perfection cannot be realized; giving up all six makes it realizable.
Only one item repeats from AN 6.65
AN 6.65's list was lack of faith, lack of conscience, lack of prudence, laziness, negligence, and witlessness. This discourse's list is dullness, drowsiness, restlessness, remorse, lack of faith, and negligence. Checked term by term, only lack of faith (assaddhiya) and negligence (pamāda) reappear; the other four items in each list are distinct. Two consecutive discourses in the same shape, naming six things each, are not thereby naming the same six things.
Four of the five hindrances, named by pairs
Dullness and drowsiness (thīna-middha) and restlessness and remorse (uddhacca-kukkucca) are two of the five classic hindrances to meditation, here named individually rather than as the usual paired compounds. Doubt and sensual desire, the remaining two hindrances, are absent from this particular list.
A higher milestone, a different obstruction
Where AN 6.65 named ethical and attentional deficits blocking non-return, this discourse's list leans toward specifically meditative hindrances (dullness, drowsiness, restlessness, remorse) blocking the final milestone. The shift in content between two structurally identical discourses tracks a shift in what is actually being obstructed.
Key terms
arahatta — “perfection,” arahantship — the discourse's own title, the fourth and final milestone of awakening.
thīna-middha — “dullness and drowsiness” — one of the five classic hindrances, named here as two separate list items.
uddhacca-kukkucca — “restlessness and remorse” — another of the five hindrances, likewise split into two items here.
assaddhiya — “lack of faith” — the one item genuinely shared with AN 6.65's list.
pamāda — “negligence” — the other item shared with AN 6.65; the remaining four items in each list are distinct.
The text
The discourse in full: six things that block perfection, and their six reversals. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six things that block perfection
§1“Mendicants, without giving up six things you can’t realize perfection. What six? Dullness, drowsiness, restlessness, remorse, lack of faith, and negligence. Without giving up these six things you can’t realize perfection.
Six things that enable it
§2After giving up six things you can realize perfection. What six? Dullness, drowsiness, restlessness, remorse, lack of faith, and negligence. After giving up these six things you can realize perfection.”
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Self-check quiz
Nine questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 9
What milestone does AN 6.66's list concern?
Correct: B. The discourse's own title, Arahattasutta.
Question 2 of 9
How many of AN 6.66's six items are genuinely shared with AN 6.65's list, checked term by term?
Correct: B. A close look shows only assaddhiya and pamāda recur; dullness, drowsiness, restlessness, and remorse are new to this discourse.
Question 3 of 9
What caution does the guide draw from this partial overlap?
Correct: B. Shared shape does not guarantee shared content — checked here term by term.
Question 4 of 9
Which classic hindrances appear, split into individual list items, in AN 6.66?
Correct: B. Two of the five classic hindrances, each split into two separate list items.
Question 5 of 9
Which two of the five classic hindrances are absent from this list?
Correct: B. Only four of the five hindrances' components appear, plus lack of faith and negligence.
Question 6 of 9
According to the guide, how does this list's character differ from AN 6.65's?
Correct: B. A shift in content tracking a shift in what is actually being obstructed.
Question 7 of 9
Is a setting stated for AN 6.66?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching AN 6.65 immediately before it.
Question 8 of 9
What does uddhacca-kukkucca mean?
Correct: B. One of the five hindrances, named individually in this list.
Question 9 of 9
What is the discourse's overall structure?
Correct: B. Structurally identical to AN 6.65, though not identical in content.
